The '''Church of Ukraine''' is an [[autonomy|autonomous]] Orthodox church whose [[primate]] is confirmed by the [[Church of Russia]]. Its history extends to the introduction of Christianity into Kievan Rus' with the [[baptism]] of Prince St. [[Vladimir of Kiev]] and his people in 988, known as the [[Baptism of Rus']]. Its current primate is His Beatitude [[Volodymyr (Sabodan) of Kiev|Volodymyr (Sabodan)]] (who resides at the [[Monastery of the Kiev Caves|Kiev Pechersk Lavra]], which is the heartbeat of Ukrainian Orthodoxy), Metropolitan of Kiev and All Ukraine. Its autonomy is currently not recognized in international Orthodox gatherings.

The '''Church of Ukraine''' is an [[autonomy|autonomous]] Orthodox church whose [[primate]] is confirmed by the [[Church of Russia]]. Its history extends to the introduction of Christianity into Kievan Rus' with the [[baptism]] of Prince St. [[Vladimir of Kiev]] and his people in 988, known as the [[Baptism of Rus']]. Its current primate is His Beatitude [[Volodymyr (Sabodan) of Kiev|Volodymyr (Sabodan)]] (who resides at the [[Monastery of the Kiev Caves|Kiev Pechersk Lavra]], which is the heartbeat of Ukrainian Orthodoxy), Metropolitan of Kiev and All Ukraine. Its autonomy is currently not recognized in international Orthodox gatherings.

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==Ukrainian Orthodox divisions==

==Ukrainian Orthodox divisions==

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[[Image:Kpl.JPG|right|thumb|Kiev Pechersk Lavra]]

:''Main article: [[Orthodox divisions in Ukraine]]''

:''Main article: [[Orthodox divisions in Ukraine]]''

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Only the UOC-MP is currently in [[full communion]] with the [[Church of Russia]] and the remainder of the mainstream Orthodox Church.

Only the UOC-MP is currently in [[full communion]] with the [[Church of Russia]] and the remainder of the mainstream Orthodox Church.

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The Ukrainian Church with about 9.5 million faithful is under the canonical jurisdiction of Moscow; the two breakaway churches with 14.5 million faithful combined, developed after the fall of the Soviet Union.<ref>[http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?id=15841 A Schism in the Orthodox Church?] George Gilson. Spero News, August 01, 2008</ref>

Church of Ukraine in 2007 has 42<ref>http://orthodox.org.ua/uk/2007/08/23/1626.html , http://orthodox.org.ua/uk/istoriya_eparhiy_0 (in ukrainian).</ref> [[diocese|dioceses]] (eparchies):

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#Diocese of Berdyansk<ref>Transliteration of cities according to [[w:Administrative divisions of Ukraine]].</ref> (established in 2007)

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#Diocese of Bila Tserkva (1030th as Diocese of Yuriiv; re-established in 1994)

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#Diocese of Cherkasy (1898)

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#Diocese of Chernihiv (988)

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#Diocese of Chernivtsi (1401; 1783)

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#Diocese of Dnipropetrovsk (1775; 1803; 1926)

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#Diocese of Donetsk (1991)

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#Diocese of Horlivka (1994)

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#Diocese of Ivano-Frankivsk (1946)

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#Diocese of Kahovka

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#Diocese of Kamyanets-Podilsk (1795)

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#Diocese of Kharkiv (1799; 1836)

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#Diocese of Kherson (1775; 1837; 1991)

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#Diocese of Khmelnytskyi (1795; 1990)

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#Diocese of Khust (1994)

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#Diocese of Kirovohrad (1947)

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#Diocese of Konotop (1994)

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#Diocese of Kremenchuk

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#Diocese of Kryvyi Rih (1996)

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#Diocese of Kiev (Kyiv) (988)

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#Diocese of Luhansk (1944)

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#Diocese of Lviv (1156)

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#Diocese of Mykolaiv (1992)

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#Diocese of Nizhyn (2007)

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#Diocese of Odessa (1873; 1991)

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#Diocese of Olexandria (2007)

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#Diocese of Ovruch (1993)

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#Diocese of Poltava (1054; 1803)

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#Diocese of Rivne (1990)

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#Diocese of Sarny (1999)

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#Diocese of Severodonetsk (2007)

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#Diocese of Shepetivka (2007)

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#Diocese of Simferopol (1859)

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#Diocese of Sumy (1945)

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#Diocese of Ternopil (1988)

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#Diocese of Tulchyn (1994)

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#Diocese of Uzhhorod and Mukacheve (9 century; 2007)

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#Diocese of Vinnytsia (1933)

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#Diocese of Volodymyr-Volynskyi (992; 1996)

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#Diocese of Volyn (992; 1996)

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#Diocese of Zaporizhia (1992)

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#Diocese of Zhytomyr (1799; 1944)

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==Current episcopacy==

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By their rank<ref>In Ukrainian (and Russian) tradition "[[metropolitan]]" is higher status than "[[archbishop]]".</ref>.

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The Church currently has 58 bishops (42 diocesan bishops, 12 vicar bishops, and 4 retired), which consists of 10 [[metropolitan]]s, 21 [[archbishop]]s, and 26 [[bishop]]s. There is also 8516 priests, and 443 deacons.[http://orthodox.org.ua/uk/node/227]

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===Primate===

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# [[Volodymyr (Sabodan)]], metropolitan of Kiev and all Ukraine, [[Primate]] (Predstoyatel) of Ukrainian Orthodox Church

These Orthodox churches have frequently maintained good relations with all the Orthodox Church jurisdictions in Ukraine. As examples, both North American jurisdictions have former priests of the three major Orthodox jurisdictions in their respective Churches, and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada blesses the use of a select number of books from the Kievan Patriarchate as Ukrainian translations. [http://uocc.ca/pdf/documents/Blessing%20of%20Books.PDF]

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*[[Autonomous Ukrainian Orthodox Church in America]] (AUOCA) which was formerly known as the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church - Canonical and which claims its lineage through the Tomos of Autonomy of 1924 given by the Orthodox Church of Poland.

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However, tensions have emerged recently with the expansion of UOC-KP parishes into North America outside of the jurisdictions of the already standing UOC.[http://saveouruoc.com/frontpage.html][http://www.saveouruoc.com/coopercity.html] There are also Ukrainian parishes outside of Ukraine in dioceses of [[Moscow Patriarchate]] [http://orthodox.org.ua/eng/node/54].

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But even outside the Ukraine there are numerous splinter groups. These include

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*[[Autonomous Ukrainian Orthodox Church in America]] (AUOCA) which was formerly known as the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church - Canonical and which claims its lineage through the [[Tomos]] of Autonomy of 1924 given by the Orthodox Church of Poland.

The Ukrainian Church with about 9.5 million faithful is under the canonical jurisdiction of Moscow; the two breakaway churches with 14.5 million faithful combined, developed after the fall of the Soviet Union.[1]

Structure of the Church

Diocese of Bila Tserkva (1030th as Diocese of Yuriiv; re-established in 1994)

Diocese of Cherkasy (1898)

Diocese of Chernihiv (988)

Diocese of Chernivtsi (1401; 1783)

Diocese of Dnipropetrovsk (1775; 1803; 1926)

Diocese of Donetsk (1991)

Diocese of Horlivka (1994)

Diocese of Ivano-Frankivsk (1946)

Diocese of Kahovka

Diocese of Kamyanets-Podilsk (1795)

Diocese of Kharkiv (1799; 1836)

Diocese of Kherson (1775; 1837; 1991)

Diocese of Khmelnytskyi (1795; 1990)

Diocese of Khust (1994)

Diocese of Kirovohrad (1947)

Diocese of Konotop (1994)

Diocese of Kremenchuk

Diocese of Kryvyi Rih (1996)

Diocese of Kiev (Kyiv) (988)

Diocese of Luhansk (1944)

Diocese of Lviv (1156)

Diocese of Mykolaiv (1992)

Diocese of Nizhyn (2007)

Diocese of Odessa (1873; 1991)

Diocese of Olexandria (2007)

Diocese of Ovruch (1993)

Diocese of Poltava (1054; 1803)

Diocese of Rivne (1990)

Diocese of Sarny (1999)

Diocese of Severodonetsk (2007)

Diocese of Shepetivka (2007)

Diocese of Simferopol (1859)

Diocese of Sumy (1945)

Diocese of Ternopil (1988)

Diocese of Tulchyn (1994)

Diocese of Uzhhorod and Mukacheve (9 century; 2007)

Diocese of Vinnytsia (1933)

Diocese of Volodymyr-Volynskyi (992; 1996)

Diocese of Volyn (992; 1996)

Diocese of Zaporizhia (1992)

Diocese of Zhytomyr (1799; 1944)

Current episcopacy

By their rank[5].
The Church currently has 58 bishops (42 diocesan bishops, 12 vicar bishops, and 4 retired), which consists of 10 metropolitans, 21 archbishops, and 26 bishops. There is also 8516 priests, and 443 deacons.[1]

Ukrainian Orthodoxy abroad

These Orthodox churches have frequently maintained good relations with all the Orthodox Church jurisdictions in Ukraine. As examples, both North American jurisdictions have former priests of the three major Orthodox jurisdictions in their respective Churches, and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada blesses the use of a select number of books from the Kievan Patriarchate as Ukrainian translations. [2]

However, tensions have emerged recently with the expansion of UOC-KP parishes into North America outside of the jurisdictions of the already standing UOC.[3][4] There are also Ukrainian parishes outside of Ukraine in dioceses of Moscow Patriarchate[5].

But even outside the Ukraine there are numerous splinter groups. These include